Summary: | Severe fixed flexion deformities at the fingers are common
injuries that can lead to pain and stiffness when treated
improperly. The damage varies from a sprain of the
collateral ligaments to an all-round comminuted
fracture-dislocation. The flexion deformities occur because
of a variety of issues including fractures (broken bones),
burns, tissue expansion, facial contracture and finger joint
dislocation [1]. With conventional splints it is difficult to apply an effective torque without causing pain and
inflammation due to pressure on the skin. The objective of
the study is to develop a new design for external finger
fixator to correct severe fixed flexion deformity. Siow et
al. (1999) conducted a clinical trial on three patients by using mini external fixator where each of them had severe
fixed flexion of deformity. The device was applied up to
44 days and post-operative observation showed that the
effected finger can extend up to 75% from the initial range
of motion [2]. The use of this external fixator for
correction of rigid soft tissue deformities of the hand has
proved that it is not only feasible, but works well.
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